Mullion



Oct. 14, 1969 c. w. LINDELOW MULLION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 7. 1966 INVENTOR. CRAlG W. LINDELOW BY F Oct. 14, 1969 c. w. LINDELOW 3,471,985

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United States Patent 3,471,985 MULLION Craig W. Lindelow, 220 E. High St., Sommerville, NJ. 08876 Filed Oct. 7, 1966, Set. No. 589,175 Int. Cl. E04b 1/66, 2/78; E04c 3/32 U.S. Cl. 52397 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mullion having a vertical facade member of box construction with spaced inner and outer side walls and spaced side walls connecting the inner and outer walls. The side walls contiguous to their junctions with the inner walls have extending therefrom preferably on each side inner flanges with outwardly extending lips and outer side flanges intermediate the inner and outer walls. The outer side flanges have lips thereon extending toward the inner side flange. A panel inserted between the flanges is held in place by an inserted resilient gasket strip, the facade member providing a fulcrum for insertion of the resilient strip. The methods of applying, related to the flanged mullion are also included.

This invention relates to curtain wall constructions and particularly to mullions for curtain walls.

It is an object of the invention to provide a mullion for a curtain wall construction which enables the simple and rapid construction of a curtain wall.

It is another object of the invention to provide a mullion for a curtain wall construction that will rapidly and firmly aflix the panels of the wall in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mullion for a curtain wall construction wherein a strip will serve to seal the space between a panel and a mullion and to fix the panel firmly in place.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a mullion for a curtain wall construction that will serve as a fulcrum for a welding tool which will set a resilient strip in a compressed state in seizing engagement with a panel.

Another object is to provide a versatile mullion usable also for interior partitions.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages may be attained by the device shown by way of illustration in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of .a facade, showing the mullion;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a mullion;

FIGURES 3a and b are a horizontal cross-sectional view of a two-piece mullion;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a unitary mullion;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a mullion with a panel in position;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a mullion with two panels applied;

FIGURE 7 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a mullion having a two-piece dovetail construction; and

FIGURE 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional View of a mullion and a tool applying a conventional strip.

The curtain wall construction has found a firm place and has won wide acceptance in contemporary architectural technology. The erection of a curtain wall usually involves intensive preoccupation with weather-tight features and involves, on occasion, the application of calking materials, sealing dressings, extruded tape fillers and extruded materials which are applied to make the wall weather tight. In addition, numerous metal and plastic bent and extruded shapes are required to be ice fastened together in order to provide structural members to receive panels. The installation of panels and mullions becomes a precision job with practically no margin for error arising from improper handling. Repairs become difficult if not impossible once the structure is completed except at great cost. It has been found that by the use of a simple mullion to which panels may be applied with only modest precision it is possible to erect a curtain wall which is tightly sealed against the elements, has an aesthetically pleasing appearance, is relatively inexpensive to erect, and is durable. In addition, a simple extruded aluminum mullion without numerous extra parts that have to be bolted to it, is used as the principal facade member, that only needs one collateral member for making a complete facade in accordance with the present system. A wedged-in sealing strip permanently attaches and rigidly secures the wall panels in place and yet permits removal and reinstallation of the elements comprising the curtain wall with considerable ease, without the necessity for bracing, and without the danger of collapse of the structure. It has been found that the utilization of this system allows great variety of spacing of windows and doors, and numerous sizes of panels can be cut and easily fitted, or uniform sizes may be applied.

Referring now to the drawings in detail. There is provided a facade member 11. The facade member is generally rectangular in shape, and may be made of aluminum. The facade member 11 defines a mullion which is attached vertically to a structural frame for a building. It is preferably made of solid or hollow aluminum which may be formed as an extrusion. The facade member has an inner end wall 12 and an outer end wall 13 in general perpendicularity to the sides of the facade member. At the inner end wall thereof, there are inner perpendicular sidewardly extending flanges 14. Toward the outer end wall of the facade member 11, there are outer flanges 15 also arranged in opposite pairs extending from the sides of the facade member 11. The outer flanges 15 may be angularly disposed at an acute angle with respect to the side wall of the facade member 11. The outer end of the outer flange may extend from an elbow in the outer flange at an angle toward the inner portion of the outer flange. The outer portion of the outer flange is provided with a lip 16. The area between the lip and the outer flange defines a seat for a resilient strip which will hereinafter be referred to. The outer flange and the inner flange are disposed in spaced relation to each other, the space being somewhat greater than the thickness of a panel 17 which is to be inserted between them. The distance between the inner and outer flanges 14, 15 is sufficient to permit some small movement of the panel 17 back and forth between them. With the panel 17 intruded between the inner and outer flanges 14, 15, a resilient strip 18 is compressed into the seat defined by the lip 16 and adjacent portion of the outer flange 15. It will be seen that since the lip 16 is disposed generally in the direction of the panel 17, that the resilient strip 18 is captured by the lip and is caused to seize the panel 17 and hold it in place between the inner and outer flanges 14, 15. In addition, the resilient strip 18 seals the panel in place and resists the incursion of rain, dust, air, snow, sleet and any species of precipitation. The resilient strip 18 may be made of numerous materials such as rubber or plastic, either separate or in combination with a metal core or reinforcing strip. It is a desirable and essential characteristic of the strip 18 that it should be resilient. A preferred form of the resilient strip 18 would be tubular. The resilient strip is applied by a compression tool 19 having a bracket 20 that fits over the outer end 13 of the facade member 11, and serves as a pivot point for a pivotally mounted lever 21. The lever 21 has a handle 22 and a wedge 23 mounted on the handle beyond the pivot point 24. The wedge 23 is positioned so that when the handle is manipulated, the wedge 23 will engage the resilient strip 18, compress it, and seat it under the lip 16 in seizing and sealing engagement with the panel 17. Numerous other devices for compressing and inserting the strip may be devised. It will be seen that, by this procedure, a mullion or facade member 11 is provided that permits the firm engagement of the vertical edges of the panels in a curtain wall construction. A cooperative muntin suitable for sealing the horizontal edges of panels of curtain walls is the subject of another patent application. While it has been shown that the inner flanges 14 may be formed integrally with the facade member 11, it is possible to form them separately and to bolt them to the facade member 11 as shown in FIGURES 3a and 3b. It is also possible that the inner flanges 14, 14 might be formed integrally with each other and dovetailed to the facade member as shown in FIGURE 7, eliminating the necessity for bolting them there to if they are not formed integrally with the facade member as in FIGURES 2, 6 and 8. There is provided a mullion, a curtain wall construction, and a method of erecting the curtain wall which is illustrative of the invention. Many changes may be made in the construction, selection and arrangement of the parts, all within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination comprising:

a vertical unitary tubular facade member having integral spaced parallel inner and outer walls and spaced parallel side walls connecting said inner and outer walls with said outer wall and contiguous portions of said side walls exposed to the elements,

an inner rigid vertical flange extending outwardly with respect to one of said side walls contiguous to the junction of said side wall with the inner wall,

an outer rigid integral vertical flange exposed to the elements extending outwardly with respect to said one of said side walls intermediate said inner and outer walls,

said outer flange having a lip thereon extending toward the inner flange,

a panel having an edge disposed between the inner and outer flanges on the facade member and in spaced relation to the lip,

the clearance between said flanges being greater than the thickness of the panel, and

a resilient sealing strip for preventing fluid access thereby disposed in a compressed state in engagement with the panel and the lip on the outer flange and retaining the panel in place.

Cir

2. The combination comprising the device according to claim 1 and a lip on the inner flange extending toward the outer flange.

3. The combination comprising the device according to claim 1, and the facade member outwardly of said outer flange defining a fulcrum for a tool to compress the strip into the space between the lip and the panel to seize the panel and seal the space.

4. The combination comprising the device according to claim 1 in which additional inner and outer vertical flanges are provided oppositely disposed with respect to said other vertical flanges.

5. A mullion comprising:

a vertical unitary tubular facade member having integral spaced inner and outer parallel walls and spaced parallel side walls connecting said inner and outer walls,

an inner rigid vertical flange extending outwardly with respect to one of said side walls contiguous to the junction of said side wall with the inner wall, and

an outer rigid integral vertical flange extending outwardly with respect to said one of said side walls intermediate said inner and outer walls,

said outer wall, contiguous portions of said side walls and said outer flange being exposed to the elements,

said outer flange having a lip thereon extending toward the inner flange and providing a seat for a sealing strip.

6. A mullion comprising the device according to claim 5 in which:

additional inner and outer vertical flanges are provided oppositely disposed with respect to said other vertical flanges, and

said outer vertical flange having angularly disposed portions between said lips and said side walls for retaining a sealing strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,124,354 7/1938 Plym 52-282 2,731,118 1/1956 Nasmyth 52-235 X 2,885,040 5/1959 Grossman 52-235 X 3,039,232 6/1962 Dunn 52-495 X 3,096,861 7/1963 Frick et al. 52-498 X 2,079,635 5/1937 Sharp 52-282 X 2,263,355 11/1941 Fould 52-495 X 2,765,886 10/1956 Tedaldi et al. 52-282 OTHER REFERENCES 1,313,393 11/1962 France.

179,707 9/1935 Switzerland.

ALFRED C. PERHAM, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

